Obituary of Jean Willingham

Jean Willingham, born  on July 1, 1943, in Berwick, Pennsylvania, to Dominick and Giovanna Perrotta,  passed away peacefully  at her home on May 17, 2026, in White Plains, New York after a long illness. 

Raised in Corona, Queens, she attended St Leo's School and graduated from Newtown High School.   After the birth of her children, she was employed as an executive assistant  and moved on to become a partner at J. Thomas & Associates, an investigation agency in Queens, NY.   In 1990, Jean and her husband Tom, founded  Gryphon Investigations.  Jean ran the office and later became a licensed private investigator and was a  principal in the firm. 

Jean's organizational skills, intelligence and endearing personality were key reasons for the firm's growth into a well known and well respected firm.  Gryphon was one of the first firms of its kind and is still in existence, to this day,  doing investigations throughout the world. 

Jean will  always be remembered for her kindness to everyone she came in contact with, her devotion to her family and for the love she and her husband Tom shared that only grew stronger through time.   She is preceded in death by her parents, Dominick Perrotta and Giovanna Alati; and her sister, Ida Caceres.

She is survived by her husband, Tom Willingham; her brother, Ralph Perrotta.; her daughter, Janine Latkovic, her son, Gary Corsale; her stepchildren, Brian Willingham, Andy Willingham and Elizabeth Willingham and her nine grandchildren Nicholas, Michael, Evan, Alina, Brendan, Molly, Silas, Nolan, and River.

Services will be held on Saturday May 23, 2026 at 11:00 am at Clark Associates Funeral Home,  4 Woods Bridge Road, Katonah, NY. The burial will be held  at 1:00 pm, at the Pound Ridge Town Cemetery , 199 Westchester Avenue, Pound Ridge, NY at the intersection of West Lane and Westchester Avenue, across the road from the Pound Ridge Park.